Carl Jung’s life work…turned into a game about being a pimp and jumping into TVs

Karakuri and I go in-depth for our episodic posts about the Persona 4 anime, but every now and then I realize that I have something to say that would become too much of a tangent if I tried to squish it into a normal post. Transitioning from my thoughts about the episode itself into a big discussion of Jungian psychology just doesn’t seem effective. My thoughts would end up scattered over the weeks, and never truly form a whole concept. Better to put everything in one post and form an overall, cohesive statement. After sitting through the anime (episode 25 post coming soon!) as well as many psych lectures, I can attest to the overwhelming simularity between the terms in Persona and the theories of the famous psychologist Carl Jung. Sound like a far-fetched connection? Well, let’s take a look.

NOTE: Spoilers if you haven’t beaten the game OR watched up to episode 24 of the anime.

Persona

The entire namesake of the franchise is a nod to Carl Jung’s theory of persona and shadows. The latin word personae means ‘mask’, as it was used to describe the masks worn in ancient Greek plays. A persona is exactly that – a mental mask that someone wears depending on what situation they are placed in and how they feel they need to act to deal with it. Although it’s described as a mask, by no means is donning a persona considered to be hiding from the truth. A persona takes an important aspect of that person’s true identity and then blends it with a social identity to fit in. People tend to naturally become slightly different people based on their surroundings. You can tell the difference yourself, most of the time. At a party, maybe you’re more wild. At work, perhaps you obediently do whatever you are told without a thought. Perhaps the reverse is true and you swing from the ceiling at the office and clam up around crowds. It all depends on the person – but everyone has their own set of persona to help them belong in the world and interact with others. While it can be taken to extreme where it becomes a caricature of the true self, this isn’t the usual, healthy way people use a persona in real life.

Although Jung probably didn’t mean for a persona to take the physical form of a badass demon (…I think), Persona 4 goes the extra step to make things a little more clear. Picturing demons instead of different personalities is pretty sick! Not only that, if you think of the persona in the way Jung does, you can see the demons as visual representations of the coping strategies of all the characters. They only have one persona, while most people have several masks that they don in real life, so things are simplified. For example, Naoto has a cool, suave persona to go with the persona she uses when dealing with the police. She identifies as more of a controlled person than a moody schoolgirl. Likewise, Chie’s persona is incredibly strong and masculine to show her protective side without the jealous, controlling nature that was so evident in her shadow (more on that later). Basically – you can do a lot of character analysis by just looking at their persona.

Yu is a very special case. He has a huge number of persona at his disposal, and he can switch between them at will. What does this say about his character? He’s not really a flighty kind of guy who changes his personality like a chameleon. Instead, I see it more as people rubbing off on him. With each person he helps and gets closer to, he understands both their persona and their shadow. He takes a little bit of that knowledge with him for everyone he gets close to, thus understanding the different masks that his friends wear. Looking at it from the video game side of things, it’s a perfect move to have the main character be so malleable. Yu is literally the vehicle of the player’s will – and that player could be anyone. It could be any face and any persona. Yu is an empty vessel for us to fill up with our will, and since he can have any persona, the experience is that much more immersive. You are Yu, and your persona in Yu’s as well.

Please take a break from reading this to say ‘you are Yu’ out loud, shake your head, and continue on. Yes, very good.

Yu’s not the only one with an interesting persona. Look at Adachi…his persona is basically the same as Yu’s, except it looks a lot more malevolent. Izanagi and Magatsu Izanagi are two of a kind. Yes, I know, it’s typical for the villain to just be a darker version of whatever the hero is. However, this is different than superpowers or wearing a spooky cape instead of a heroic scarf, this is about personality traits. Why are they so stunningly similar? How did Adachi get a persona right away like Yu did? Is there a hint that Adachi and Yu actually both see the world in similar ways? Perhaps Adachi is like this because he never formed the types of bonds with others that Yu did. He never tried to understand everyone and their own persona or shadow. Somewhere along the line, Adachi just took a VERY wrong turn and gave up on morality.

Shadow

The opposite of the persona – the shadow – represents every thought or feeling in our pretty little heads that we simply do not want to accept. Yosuke can’t accept that he finds a murder case to be fun and Kanji can’t accept that he has some womanly tendencies. All of this directly opposes the persona, which is more like our ideal self. We reject the shadow because these thoughts take us farther away from this ideal self. Yosuke wants to be a morally just person, so he tries to deny his thoughts about enjoying the change of pace despite having innocent people die. Carl Jung called it shadow purposely to represent the duality of the shadow and persona, to hint at the darkness it brings, and to show that the shadow will always exist. You can’t have light with shadows. So how the hell do you live a happy life with a shadow looming around? Carl Jung says you just have to accept your shadow…therefore, accept your darkest thoughts. This is exactly what everyone in Persona 4 does – and they become better people as a result of it. They’re happier, they live fuller lives, and their personality is more balanced. Yu doesn’t have a shadow, so it can be assumed he already accepts all of his flaws.

Again, this mostly serves as a new light to cast the characters in, with Teddie being the special case. He is a shadow. Teddie is basically a side of someone they didn’t want to recognize. No wonder, because I would never want to admit that I was that bloody annoying. Anyways, Teddie said he gained human emotions somehow, which differentiated him from the other shadows. This explains why Teddie had his own shadow despite being…well…a shadow. My guess is that because he gained human emotions, he was able to form his own doubts and insecurities. When he accepted them, he gained a persona. When a shadow gains a persona, they essentially become a person. As a shadow, Teddie only has his bearsuit, but he’s hollow inside. After gaining a persona, he has a human body on the inside as well. The doctors may not be able to figure him out physically, but he’s really no different from a normal person at this stage. A true person is neither a shadow nor a persona…but both of these things in unison. I had a hard time believing that a shadow was close to a human for the sole reason that it had a “demonic summon it could use in the Tv world – just like us!” Not exactly the dictionary definition of homo sapien there. Seeing it more in terms of a persona and a shadow referring to Jungian terms instead of monsters, it’s easier to see what they were going for by giving him a human body and a persona to make him seem human.

The Personal Unconscious and Complexes

The collective unconscious is most likely supposed to be the TV World, but there’s really nothing exciting to say about that aside from “look, the two are similar!” The personal unconscious is a lot more interesting to discuss in the arena of Persona 4. The personal unconscious is said to be made up of one’s perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Every experience you’ve had is stored here, and usually stays in a dormant state unless the memory is specifically retrieved. The key point about the personal unconscious that is related to persona is the idea of complexes, which reside in the personal unconscious. Basically, a sort of trauma or misconstrewn concept about something.

It’s specifically stated in the game with ‘complex’ in bold text that Kanji has a complex about trying to be masculine. This complex represents the dungeon that is created when each person is thrown into the TV. Continuing to use Kanji as an example, because he has a complex about being called ‘gay’ for showing his feminine interests, his dungeon is a flamboyant sauna. His complex is so powerful that it has overtaken his personal unconscious and changes the way he thinks about everything, without him realizing it. His dungeon is a direct manifestation of whatever complex he has – and the same can be said for the other characters. Jung states that the complex “appears to be an autonomous development intruding upon consciousness.” meaning that this irrational way of seeing the world can actually act as if it were a totally different person. Sounds a bit like a shadow, doesn’t it? Complexes create shadows.

Conclusion

As a neuroscience student, I do have to take the odd psychology course here and there, so of course I nearly squawked (yes, squawked) when we started talking about the persona and shadows in class. It was perfect. I knew I had to write about it in that exact moment! Combining what you learn in school and anime is a surprisingly great way to learn, as well. I won’t be forgetting good old Jung for quite a while. Furthermore, looking at the Persona 4 franchise from this angle can reveal some interesting little gems. Hopefully you feel the same after reading this. :3 So, I guess this is the part where I ask what you think, because just reading my own opinion is boring. Do you agree (or disagree) with my connections? Did you make any further connections or revelations that I missed? Anything else to say about good old JungJung? Let it all out!

Thanks! I’m incredibly psyched for Persona 5, even if it probably won’t be released for quite a long time. Atlus did a great job in the two persona games I tried, so I don’t think they’ll falter with all this positive momentum /atlus fangirl.

I think you are right about connecting these issues from Persona to Jung. To continue a bit more on Jung (less so Persona), have you seen any of the stuff about the recent (2009) publication of Carl Jung’s Red Book? It was a secret book that Jung hand wrote and illustrated. It was kept locked in a cupboard by his descendants after his death because those that read it questioned his sanity. It is said to describe his inner struggles with “demons” and the illustrations include images of monsters (and lots of mandelas).

No, I haven’t! That sounds really interesting though, I need to check it out! We had a brief lecture covering his biography so I know he was a little bit of an odd, mystic type of guy. We kind of quickly brushed over that period in his life where he analyzed himself intensely and started losing touch with reality a bit. How could our lecturer leave out demons? That’s awesome! Looks like Persona 4 is even closer to what goes on in Jung’s head than I thought.

*comes back* So anyways, first of all it was definitely an entertaining read up on the shadows and persona’s and what they really meant in the series/games (referring to all persona games) I completely agree with the stance that you have to accept yourself which includes both your ‘shadow’ and your ‘persona’. I’m practically a living example but not to an extent I hated a certain side to me. It’s more like I was too scared to show my true self and continued to only show a public self. Through time and experience I eventually decided “you know what? stuff this”. At that point I decided to act more like the person I wanted to be. The real *insert real life name here* instead of a piece of me. Afterwards, I definitely felt more content and happy. I’m enjoying life much more and anime has helped me in the process of accepting myself too. Carl Jung has done a great job in depicting the shadow and persona aspects and OC, you’ve done a great job in interpreting his vision on those aspects ;D Great editorial as always!

Thanks for sharing about how you essentially defeated your shadow. There needs to be balance between the two for things to work out. It’s never easy facing the parts of yourself you’d rather forget about and accept them. I’m glad you were able to overcome! You must have become strong despite being named after a soft, delicate food. =w= *claps*

*puts on glasses* Aww yeah. Well, I think ANYONE becomes a bit stronger when they get over a roadbump in life, no matter how little it is. I vaguely recall you saying something about the softness of Tofu representing your sensitive side, but it’s probably an even deeper meaning than that. So cryptic, Tofu!

Awesome post and ideas there, you tied all Jung’s basic concepts about Shadows and Personae into one neat package. Will be great for those new to the concepts and themes in Persona 4.

Anyway, the real-world theories and implications behind P4 are the true reasons I like it so much (other than the badass demons XD). It did what few games/shows did-make me think about myself and my own shadows, persona, complexes and whatnot.

I’ve only read a few excerpts about Shadows and am not exactly on the road to accepting my Shadow yet, but P4 has definitely have a lasting impact on my views on relationships, identity and our dark sides.

If I may add though, I think our accepting our Shadows can only be to a certain extent. If we totally embrace our Shadows without a second thought, that would mean abandoning everything else and going by instinct-which is what the Shadow characters (and Adachi) in P4 did. I think we should acknowledge our Shadow and accept that it’s lamentations/goading/taunts hold some water, but not go so far as to not question them as well.

I’d talk more on this, but I’m a zero in psychology and I’ve got a curfew breathing down my neck…Well, thanks again for the article and the chance to type my thoughts down. (^_^)

The anime didn’t have the time to really explain the significance of what a persona is, so this will probably be more novel to those who haven’t played the game. While the game didn’t talk about Jung explicitly, I think the whole persona and shadow thing has to be intentional. It really does make you think about yourself though. You’re not just beating up monsters, there’s a meaning to it. That’s part of what sets Persona apart, for sure.

I think life is kind of a cycle of accepting your shadow, honing your persona, and then coming across new shadows. As you change, the parts you don’t like about yourself can change too, so everyone will be in different stages. I won’t ask what your shadow is, but good luck overcoming it!

You bring up a good point about just blind acceptance. That’s just an excuse for people who are afraid to change. Pretending “it’s alright that I’m like this” isn’t true acceptance. As you said, you shouldn’t go too far without questioning things and finding the truth of both who you want to be and who you really are.

Hopefully there was no one yelling at you to get off the computer. XD Rebel!

Naoto did link Personae and Shadows to psychology once in the game. Anyway, you’re right, that’s why I keep an eye out for Atlus (and especially SMT) titles these days. Have you played any SMT titles before?

I think your posting time is very near each other so that maybe the cause. However, our spam monster has been overeating these days (too many spam bots), so some of the genuine comments do get eaten up. However, there’s always Editors and I to save them from the dungeons. So, no worries!

Yeaahhhh sometimes comments go to the spam bin (even mine), but it’s just a matter of time before someone marks it as NOT spam. :B

I’ve played Persona 3 and Devil Survivor, but that’s about it for SMT games. I’ll probably play Persona 2 soon since that is a thing that’s been released for PSP, and I plan to play as many as I can. I love anything that Atlus makes <3

Very good observations! Never had an anime which someone could go this deep into before. The human mind- each human mind- is as complex as the universe itself, which every piece of intelligence, desire, emotion, need, instinct, etc having an effect on what the person does and is.
And what happens when universes start talking with each other?
So awesomely complex, anything is possible.

There are lots of anime people can really delve into, but Persona 4 is just one I personally found a lot to say about.

The human mind really is all kinds of crazy (to put it mildly). That’s part of why I’m devoting my time to studying the brain, because people are just so interesting. Just changing the way you look at people can change everything.

I made a post about this before the series started, though yours has a lot more detail and information than mine. Indeed, the intricacy of the integration of analytical psychology in this anime is quite commendable. Heck, I would dare say that Persona 4 is one of the most info-filled piece of entertainment to date, just because of the sheer amount of material that one can dig out from the anime, and by extension, the game (it got me interested in Goetia for goodness’ sake).

Ohhh, very nice. I never really thought about Persona 3’s depiction of shadows. The whole Jungian vibe didn’t really come out strongly until P4. They really started to get deep once they established what they wanted to do with the Persona franchise. The mystery, the social links, the social commentary…there really is a lot to talk about. I don’t know about Goetia, but the arcana stuff almost made me want to learn how to do tarot card readings.

Who better to do a post about the psychology behind Persona 4 than the ones who’ve played the game and blogging the anime? It must have been tearing you apart to keep such information out of the posts for the anime so it could be better explained.

I didn’t realize Personas and Shadows were part of Carl Jung’s theory. Based on what you said, I would say that it explores human morality and behavior patterns, that people are actors denying who they are, hiding their true selves until they’re forced to confront and accept who they really are inside like each of the characters facing down their Shadows in the Persona world.

Since the show reflects on opposites like Personas and Shadows, Adachi is who he is because he is the polar opposite of everything that Yu is and stands for, explaining Izanagi and Magatsu Izanagi. They literally represent the aspects of Ying and Yang.

Teddie is pretty the exception to the rule being a Shadow that gained human emotions and a Persona. Maybe he got his development from spending time with Yu and the gang leading him to have the ability to gain a human body. And I have a theory that he also got that way because he hasn’t met his human counterpart and gained a will of his own.

Wow, this post was deep. I applaud you once again, OC for bringing these thoughts to mind. I find the Shadow versions of everyone to be much cooler thanks to their glowing yellow eyes, especially Rise, Chie, Yukiko and Naoto.

I wanted to talk about it sooner, but then I realized I had a lot to say…haha.

I didn’t know either until it came up in a lecture. A lot of what Jung considers to be essential for becoming a whole person turns up in Persona 4.

Adachi is a polar opposite in one way, but I like seeing him as more of an analog to Yu. I think if he had formed bonds with people, got to know them, and didn’t spend all his time being alone and miserable then he’d turn out a lot more like Yu. They’re completely opposite right now, but their persona are so similar I can’t help but see Adachi as “Yu gone wrong.” Maybe I just like the idea of seeing a villain who is close to being morally correct, but juuuust a bit off.

I think you’re right about Teddie. What would we do if he met his human counterpart and he tried to defeat Teddie? That would be pretty bad…D:

Thanks you! I’m glad I was able to go in deep enough to make people see things from a new angle.

All the scariest people I’ve ever met think they’re never, ever, in the wrong. I’ve seen heroes and dreamers kick dogs, torture people, and even try to talk a kid into killing themselves.

All the best people, meanwhile, had a demon they could summon up, from somewhere inside, either for play, or just when they needed to warn me they weren’t perfect. That demon, I think, often helped them deal with their shadows.

I know my demons did, anyways.

Good article. Maybe it’ll inspire a few more people to take the game seriously…

OK, I heven’t read all article, but I have to narrow some things. (I’m a bad person.) First, the Persona concept it not compleatly Jung’s idea – Nietsche in his early works on theathre came up with an idea of “Apollonian and Dionisian” – one aspect represents the good will, but also covering the truth with positive intensios, the other is chaos and unjustice; as wikipedia adds: “the tragic hero of the drama, the main protagonist, struggles to make order (in the Apollonian sense) of his unjust and chaotic (Dionysian) Fate, though he dies unfulfilled in the end.” (it makes more sense for other Persona games tho *shakes fist on P4 happy ending*) It fits even better that Jung’s philosophy, beacuse Jung also had the “opposite sex” aspect of personality, which is not included in the game (OR maybe it’s mocked? I don’t know if the whole “miss yasogami” joke was that clever).
And for me the idea of Tv World seems simmilar to Plato’s idea that our world is a reflection of the real world, and Tv World is exactly that – it’s the place with Shadows, where people see their “true selves”. Socrates said the physical world that we see is the “shadow” of the real one. Isn’t it ironic?
And why didn’t you say anything about Tarot arcanas? All personalities in the game are not only assigned to Major Arcana’s, but also fit the interpretation of their meaning (in Rider-Waite deck). For example: “In tarot readings, the Magician Arcana is commonly associated with action, initiative, self-confidence, manipulation and power (more specifically, the power to harness one’s talents.) As the name suggests, in gameplay, the Personas of the Magician Arcana are commonly Personas excelling towards Magic.” And who is so eager to fight the Shadows, basically is the main brain in sovling the case(in game) and eventually gets jealous of protag’s “power”? Plus his Persona has a variety of spells but also has quite useful phisical attacks, like the Magician who holds two wands representing two powers.
*huff* OK, hehe, …. I’m just gonna send you some links, ok? It’s wotrh to check them out. I believe you played perona 3? If not, spoilers ahead:http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/05/pp-persona-3-psychological/http://www.blisteredthumbs.net/2011/05/cwc-death-p3/http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Fool_Arcana
I also reccomend Pollack’s “78 Degrees of Wistom” for more info on Tarot arcanas.

That’s alright, sometimes you need to get your thoughts written out before they fly out of your head. I focused solely on Jung for this editorial since I honestly don’t know anything about Nietzsche. His theories may fit more, but it’s a bit more eye-catching to compare someone who names his theories the exact same thing as the terms used in the show and in the game. Therefore, I didn’t discuss other matters that don’t apply strongly to Jung (like the tarot cards) and any of Jung’s other theories that didn’t fit Persona 4. It’d be a little TOO creepy if they used every single one of his ideas in Persona 4 – so only these few (and probably some more that I missed) connections really apply.

It’s amazing how many connections can be made to Persona 4. Ah, if only I had taken philosophy…these Nietzsche and Plato comparisons are really interesting. Although I don’t know if Socrates can really come into play. I think what he meant by our world only being a reflection has to do with perception. The world we see is what our brain interprets – it is experienced by our senses. Different people will see different things depends on their predispositions, past knowledge, and the actual physical wiring of their brain that determines just how well those 5 senses work. I think it’s just a coincidence that he used “shadow” as a term to describe how we see the real world.

The tarot arcana are REALLY COOL and it could warrant an entirely unique post. Sadly, all I know about it is from wikipedia and I don’t want to write about something I’m not at least a bit knowledgeable in. Thanks for the links! I finished Persona 3, so I’m going to go eat up these posts (aside from the wiki on the arcana, which I’ve read before in my aforementioned arcana googling).

I don’t know much about philosophy either, I’m addicted to Atlus games, read all articles about ’em and sometimes do more research :D. It’s embarrasing that I’ve learned about some acient gods from my own culture via video games >.>

Tarot is really intelligent – I don’t believe in magic and phropecies, but every card in a deck represents a life aspect and I think it’s worth to reflect on them.

I don’t think there’s any connetion to Socrates too, the word “shadow” catched my eye and I thought it was funny ;p

I’d love to read your article about P3 if you ever consider writing one, so I could make another enormous post :D.

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Teddie might be even more special than he appears. As he is not the first unnatural shadow to appear in the series. Show ▼

The shadows of the characters from Persona 2 acted as antagonists. Unlike the P4 ones they didn’t overblow the issues, they didn’t exaggerate by becoming it’s symbolic~ forms. What makes them truly creepy is that they are fully rational beings who mock their other selves for their issues and when they agree with them the Shadow attacks in order to kill them for accepting themself. Like Teddie they even have Personas

That sounds REALLY COOL. What an interesting twist on shadows. You would think accepting your dark side would be enough, but there’s really more to it than that. I like that the shadows put up a real fight and don’t just conveniently give in.

I’m a psyc student too I’m very surprised you actually studied about shadows and personas in class! I’m in 2nd year at the moment and wonder if we’ll be studying about them too O.o

Also didn’t they mention Carl Jung in the game itself? I don’t remember exactly whether they did or not, but I do recall Fuuka (P3) and/or Naoto (P4) saying something about how they went online to search about Personas and shadows and that’s where they mentioned Jung?

Either way, when you know what shadows/personas really are, it’s easy to see how Aigis became so human like. I’m sure you heard the paradox about how difficult it is for computers to do the most basic things such as walking, talking but they can easily do huge calculations in seconds which humans aren’t capable of. The most basic things require and unconscious part of the brain to work… so when you give Aigis a persona, it’s like giving her that unconscious to make her function like a human.

I really do love how they made Aigis… such a loveable character. I’m so pumped for P5 too! Can’t wait 😀

Thank you for your post.
You said a complex can be defined as a trauma or a misconstrued concept about something. Then, that a complex appears as a dungeon which forms when a person is thrust into facing their collective unconscious self-perspective or TV.

Well the thought shot to me that the game itself is the designers’/players’ complex. It’s a simulated experience that we are thrust into which makes us face the very idea of shadows and complexes. It is literally a complex. Did we develop it or is it made for those of us with a complex that makes us want to play a game like persona?

Tv & collective: (The television in persona 4 doubles as the internet…a parallel reality which serves as a tangible embodiment of gossip and cultural/social relativity between people)

igor and margaret: the velvet room and its incantations! Igor says in the beginning that he and margaret are providing you with the tools to face your issue. In tarot reading, you often start by speaking a question you have…the cards are tools to look at the issue in different lights.

lots to consider! Thanks again for the opportunity to read and reflect.

I found what you wrote extremely interesting, and yet I think you are missing one of the most interesting things about the game… and that is the midnight channel and the TV world…

Why a world inside a TV and not inside… I don’t know… a book, or under water? Why was the midnight channel only broadcasted on rainy nights at midnight? what is the meaning of the fog both on the real world and inside the TV? Why did they have to use glasses to see through the fog and not some other kind of accessory?

I would really like to comment these questions if you (or someone) is interested…

I think the fog and the time that the midnight channel goes on, and the rain of course, symbolizes nights/moments when we usually are/feel alone, in touch with our deepest thoughts. A time where we wonder about many things, things that we usually don’t think about in our daily lives. About the glasses, i think it’s a way to say that we can only see through our fears with a clear mind, IMO the fog represents the sum of our fears, that clouds our vision and the glasses represent the peace of mind that you need to see through it.

If you want to go further in this subject, let me know 😉

I just wrote a overview of what i think about it.

Ps: Sorry about any wrong words or anything, my english is not so good :p